katie2012

Congratulations on your engagement! We got married at Amsterdam Manor last month and we had a great time! We haven't stayed at the RIU or Occidental, but you might be able to hear about some other brides on the arbua.com forum. On another note, we were legally married in Aruba and we really enjoyed that part of the day. Good luck and happy planning! Katie

Sorry to hear about your experience with Jason. He seems to dominate the aruba.com forum. I hope you had fun in Aruba anyways! For any future brides reading this, we worked with Cassandra and Marc Crooze and found them to be very professional. So far we're happy with the facebook pics (it has only been 4 days since our wedding so we only have a few teasers). We used Lissy Lampe as our coordinator and everyone was early/on time for their services (bus, car, hair/makeup, etc.) besides the officiant at "town hall."

Congratulations on your engagement! We started by narrowing down the time frame we were looking to get married. Then I started looking into how much work it would take to get married in different locations, weather, and ease of travel. Are you looking for a beach? Or city? Or nature? Thinking about how you want to experience your day should help to narrow down what you're looking for! Good luck! (We picked Aruba because we wanted beach, there are plenty of direct flights for most of our family to pick from, and our time frame was during hurricane season for the Caribbean)

He wound up going back to Macy's and finding one he liked. http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/kenneth-cole-jacket-tan-solid-cotton-slim-fit?ID=652994&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results It's Kenneth Cole Tan Cotton Suit in case the link doesn't work. When we picked it up it clearly had not been pressed, so it was rather wrinkled. He was surprised that cotton would wrinkle. (SIGH) My dad and brother (best man) got suits from JC Penny http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/stafford-essentials-bone-linen-look-suit-jacket/prod.jump?ppId=1dd544b&selectedLotId=5530652&selectedSKUId=55306520109&navState=navState-:catId-:subcatId-:subcatZone-false:N-:Ns-:Nao-0:ps-24:pn-1:Ntt-linnen+suit:Nf-:action-search&catId=SearchResults. I found a website on how James Bond picks out his suits and that if they fit you look better... so advice from someone else worked better than hearing it from me!

Both look great on you, but the beading and shape of the train on #1 look great in my opinion. It is totally different than the dress I picked (empire waist sheath with no beading), but I like it on you! I went back to try on the dress I liked (found on the first day I was serious about finding my dress) 6 weeks after I initially tried it on. Go with your gut. If you keep thinking it over it might be your gut telling you something.... Katie

@ JQLong: Great dress! Your mom looks fantastic (and happy)!

Thanks AllieH, We tried Macys one weekend but it was probably too crowded because there was absolutely no customer service. We will try again.

We both agreed he would probably get a suit for this special occasion. Now that we're 75 days from our date, he has agreed to go shopping for one. We went to Jos A Bank, but it became clear that he needs an "athletic" cut (shoulders and chest wide). He's going to try Men's Warehouse and I think we should go into Brooks Brothers. Finding a men's suit is a whole new shopping experience for me. Any suggestions on where to go or what to look for in a suit for proper fit would be appreciated!

I vote for dress #1 (good movement from top to bottom with the ruffles without too much volume) Our engagement will be less than 9 months, so don't feel pressured about deciding for at least a little longer

My mom didn't like any of the traditional MOB dresses. She found this one on sale in light blue (discontinued color) at a factory outlet store and is wearing it. http://www.anntaylor.com/ann/product/AT-Weddings-%26-Events/AT-Weddings-View-All/Silk-Dupioni-Scoop-Neck-Bridesmaid-Dress/269234?colorExplode=false&skuId=10654033&catid=cata000035&productPageType=fullPriceProducts&defaultColor=3146

To help see what RIU Aruba could look like, my photographer has some weddings they did there on their website. http://www.croozephotography.com/ Hope that helps!

Congratulations on your engagement! Part of the reason my finance got on board with a destination wedding is that I'm way to type A. If we were getting married here I know I'd be alllllll over the details. And that day I'd be annoyed with things that weren't right. Planning from a distance I've given up a lot of that control. Bamboo arch? Ok. Chairs? Yes please. Type, color, chair covers, sashes, aisle decor, etc. I've given up control of. Ok things I can control like the menus and photographer I've been particular about. Start with something small, like deciding which country you'd like to get married in and take it one decision at a time from there. We did a quiz in some planning journal ranking our priorities (tier A, B, C) so at least we knew what we were both willing to compromise on. My finance kept telling me "as long as you're there to marry me it will be perfect" and I've finally listened to him.

Congratulations on your engagement! "Have you set a date?" was the first thing my parents asked us when we called them. Our response was, "No, literally this just happened 15 minutes ago." People loose perspective. Good luck with your planning!

To all current, future, and previous Aruba brides, I'm trying to figure out what to do for our reception. Any advice on bands/djs would be greatly appreciated! It's so hard to decide what to do from 3000 miles away!

That sounds terrible! I'd be so upset if just one of those things happened. I hope you had a good time on the island besides that stuff! Out of curiosity, who was your dj? We are in the middle of trying to figure out dj vs band (neither of which we will be able to "audition" ahead of time) for our July wedding.

They look great!

Well said. I went through a lot of this with my FI's four sisters initially being excited about going (even going so far as talking about going all-inclusive, staying longer, etc.), but once our save the dates went out it became too expensive. We're partially paying for them now and they're going. It's SO frustrating they never came to us about their issues with going. It's making it tough to ask one of them to be maid of honor... The important thing is that you'll be there and your fiance will be there

Hi bride81, There are a ton of ways to make a website out there. I've seen free websites from wedding sites (ie theknot) and companies that you can register with (ie crateandbarrel). We used weddingwindow.com and I really like it (not free). Good luck!

Congratulations! I am also planning my wedding in about 8 months, and picking a location/resort was the most stressful. We put down a deposit about 6 months from our date. You can do it! I used weddingwindow.com for my website (it's not free). I like it because you can manipulate the content a lot. My goal is to make it have all the information you might find in a travel book so guest can access it from the hotel if they need ideas of what to do. We sent out the website on our safe-the-dates and I've been adding information since. At the time we sent out our save-the-dates we didn't have our hotel rooms quite figured out yet, so we have our travel agent's info on our website rather than doing a separate mailing. Good luck!

Hi Victoria, Welcome to the site! Did you try "The Island Weddings" forum? I didn't find anything about my specific resort there but did manage to connect with other brides on my island. The rest of this forum is really helpful with any general destination wedding planning. Happy planning, Katie

I can't comment on hair/makeup but we had a couples massage there and I was not impressed. However, it is super convenient if you are staying there. I've also experienced "island time" and it is so frustrating!

Lauren, I find myself in a similar situation. I think 25 people sounds delightful! At first we only wanted parents, siblings, and a few friends. But my mom (who is paying for the wedding) wanted to invite my aunt (who I haven't seen in 8 years), and so we felt obligated to invite my dad's brother and my cousins.... and that made our two sides equal (12 people each, he has 4 sisters and 2 sets of parents). But then he wanted to invite his uncles and cousins and all of a sudden we're at 60 something people... and if we had a wedding in NJ, there would be 200+ invited. It's your wedding. It should be about you and your fiance and the people that are important to you. It is not selfish to throw a cheap AHR! Who says inexpensive can't be good! A backyard (or park if you don't have a backyard) bbq or a wine/cheese reception at someone's house is perfectly acceptable. I've heard of some great things done with local fire/community rooms. I'm looking into maybe a brunch party (so people could make the 2 hr drive and go home the same day). People should be happy you've decided to make a commitment, not throw a party for them. If you spread the word that you're not throwing a party to get gifts, just to be able to see people and celebrate, I don't see why anyone would think you were selfish! (maybe I'm just a bridezilla but that is my opinion) Katie

I just found a website that has discounted bridal attire and accessories (they have one of the designers I was looking at for a gown). Sort of like a ruelala/gilt/ideeli idea of shopping. Free to sign up. www.theaislenewyork.com/invite/katherinewrigley